Saturday, December 31, 2016

In the two days since the Mosul campaign officially
restarted there has not been much movement. On the first day the Quds
neighborhood in east Mosul was freed for the fourth time. On the second day a
pharmaceutical plant in Bawiza outside of the Mosul to the north was liberated,
and the Iraqi Forces (ISF) were trying to secure the Mosul-Tal Skurf road. The new plan
is to attempt a double pincer move with army and police pushing from the north
and south meeting with the Special Forces Golden Division in the center. So far
the ISF have only been trying to secure areas that they have already freed or
entered before.

On December 30 there was fighting Hadbaa in the
north, Palestine,
Intisar, Salam,
Nassir, and Shaimaa in the southeast, and Quds and Karama
in the center, while other units were trying to secure the areas they had
already freed. The Islamic State counter attacked in Sukar,
Falah, and Hadbaa
in the north, Tamim
in the center, and Nassir
and Wahda
in the southeast. In the process four suicide bombers were killed, and
twenty-six car bombs were destroyed. Again, all of these areas have been fought
over in the last two months.

The Iraqi press reported
that the Islamic State was pulling its families out of the city and sending
them west. Similar stories have been published since the start of the battle
for Mosul in October to show that the insurgents were collapsing. The fight
they’ve put up so far has shown that hasn’t happened yet.

The Associated
Press and the Los
Angeles Times both had a pieces on the difficult job the security forces
have screening people for Islamic State members and sympathizers. AP talked
with a man from IS occupied west Mosul who was caught in east Mosul. The ISF
thought he was an IS member and beat him to try to get him to confess. Other
people complained that the government forces were not letting them return to
liberated areas. The Los Angeles Times on the other hand observed the courts
that have been set up to process people. Everyone claimed that they were innocent,
but if a person testified against someone they were automatically sent to a
criminal court. The judges hear dozens and dozens of cases each day. This is a
very difficult process that can take a long time. There are some abuses going
on, and some IS members are being missed, but it is necessary.

Finally, a Kurdish official complained
again about being overwhelmed with casualties. Many of the ISF and civilian
casualties from the Mosul campaign have been sent to hospitals in Irbil. Those
facilities are running out of space and medicine for all of the people they are
seeing. The Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rashid said that over 13,500
have been treated so far, and they can’t take anymore. With only about 25% of
Mosul occupied Irbil will have to make do or more hospitals will have to be
opened because there is a lot more fighting laying ahead.

Friday, December 30, 2016

The second
phase of the Mosul campaign officially opened on December 29. Offensive
operations actually started on December
24 when several east Mosul neighborhoods were attacked. The new push
involves units
from the Golden, 16th, 15th, 9th Divisions,
along with the Federal Police, SWAT, and Hashd al-Watani, a
militia backed by Turkey, which follows former Ninewa Governor Atheel Nujafi.
There are three lines of attack, one from the northeast, one from the east, and
another from the southeast. It appears the plan is to have the Golden Division
supported by the army and Federal Police push in the middle to hold down
Islamic State fighters, while the 9th and 16th Divisions,
police and the Hashd al-Watani make a pincer move from the north and south
encircling all of east Mosul. The U.S. just knocked out the last bridge
crossing the Tigris River that connects west and east sides of the city to trap
IS forces in the latter. It also blew
up a makeshift boat bridge IS had constructed across the river. American artillery is also
supporting the attack. The ISF is also shelling
the city extensively in a change of tactics. Before the Iraqi forces were
trying to keep civilian casualties low, but with their own losses mounting and
the original push into the city having stalled it is now willing to accept the
consequences.

Twenty-one neighborhoods were involved in the day’s
operations, five of which were newly entered, with the other 16 having been
liberated or attacked before. The Golden Division freed Quds in the east for
the fourth time. IS has constantly re-infiltrate into areas, plus some have
been declared liberated when they were not. The Iraqi Forces (ISF) for example found
six IED factories in Gogjali an east Mosul suburb, which was entered at the
very end of October, yet the insurgents were still working there two months
later. During the days fighting 47 car bombs were destroyed and at least two
suicide bombers killed. IS snipers also killed 15 people.

Neighborhoods In East
Mosul Attacked Dec. 29, 2016

Quds – Originally attacked 11/1/16, freed 4 times

Karama – Originally attacked 10/31/16, freed 3 times

Intisar – Originally attacked 11/1/16, freed 3 times

Salam – Originally attacked 11/11/16, freed 2 times

Palestine – Originally attacked 11/13/16, freed 1 time

Hadbaa – Originally attacked 11/15/16

Nassir – Originally attacked 11/17/16

Sumer – Originally attacked 11/30/16

Wahda – Originally attacked 11/30/16

Sukar – Originally attacked 12/3/16, freed 1 time

Mithaq – Originally attacked 12/6/16

Shaimaa – Originally attacked 12/6/16

Dumiz – Originally attacked 12/6/16

Muthanna – Originally attacked 12/7/16, freed 1 time

Siha – Originally attacked 12/7/16, freed 1 time

Mazare – Originally attacked 12/19/16

Maqbara – Newly entered

Muhandis – Newly entered

Yarmja – Newly entered

Sinai – Newly entered

Madaat – Newly entered

In the north, outside of Mosul the army and Hashd
al-Watanifreed
the towns of Tawila and Sadah. Eight car bombs were destroyed
in the process. The first village had been declared
liberated before on December 24.

The number of displaced people continued its upward trend.
On October
20 there were just 5,640 people registered with the government and aid
agencies. That jumped to 15,804 on October 27, 21,791 on November 3, 45,294 on
November 10, 58,716 on November 17, 68,964 on November 24, 77,046 on December
1, 82,698 on December 8, 96,864 on December 15, 108,624 on December 22, and
finally 116,292 by December 29. Those figures have fluctuated day to day as
some people go back and more flee. On December 26 for example, there were
116,490 registered displaced, but that went down to 115,242 on December 27
before going back up the next two days. There are several hundred more that are
homeless within the city, but have chosen to stay either because they want to be
near their residences or are trapped by the fighting.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

The Mosul campaign is back in action, which meant there was
more heavy fighting. The Iraqi forces (ISF) attacked
the Rafaq and Baladiyat neighborhoods in the northeast section of the city. The
Islamic State on the other hand was counter attacking throughout Mosul and in
four towns
to the westandnorth.
Inside the city it attacked the Hadbaa,
Sumer,
Zaytoun,
Salam,
and Police Academy with 6 car bombs and 5 suicide bombers. Noor was hit with
mortars, and it blew
up two of its police headquarters and the Salam Hospital in Wahda in the
southeast. Three civilians were also killed by IS snipers.
The new
plan calls for the ISF to push in from the northeast, east, and southeast
by the Golden, 9th and 16th Divisions along with some
other army brigades, and the Federal Police and Ninewa police providing
artillery and holding areas cleared.

There was more news on the displacement going on. The United
Nations had 114,042 people registered with the government and aid groups.
Roughly one thousand people are leaving their homes a day. The U.N. figures did
not include people being displaced within Mosul because they do not sign up for
assistance. On December
28 for example, IS was reported to be forcing residents out of four
neighborhoods in northern Mosul. These citizens are staying within the city sheltering
with others. That could easily add a few hundred more to the total.

Finally, from October 17 to December 28 4,279 have been
killed and 8,028 wounded during the battle for Mosul in Ninewa. The Islamic
State executed 2,727 people with the other 1,552 dying in the fighting.
Civilians have faced the brunt of the casualties with 3,878 killed and 6,903
wounded. 250 members of the Iraqi forces, 82 Hashd, 65 Peshmerga, 2 Kurdish
Counter Terrorism, 1 Hashd al-Watani, and 1 U.S. sailor have been killed, and
811 ISF, 253 Peshmerga, 59 Hashd, and 2 Hashd al-Watani have been wounded.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

American and Iraqi commanders were still talking about the
next phase of the Mosul campaign when it already started. December 24 the Iraqi
forces (ISF) began operations began. That day the Golden Division attacked
Sukar and freed Falah in Mosul,
while the army’s 71st and 76th Brigades took Zaytoun, and
the town of Qaryat Tawilah. December 25 the Golden, 9th and 16th
Divisions entered Quds,
Sumer, and Dumiz in east Mosul. Then on December 26 U.S. forces shelled five
neighborhoods in the city for the first time. Finally, on December 27 Quds was taken. Sukar, Falah, and
Quds have been freed several times before, while Sumer and Dumiz have been
fought over as well. The Ninewa Operations Command also discovered six IED
factories in Gogjali an eastern suburb of the city. That was the first entered
back on October and liberated twice before yet the Islamic State was still
operative there.

The Hashd have been inactive for a few days as well, but
since December 24 have taken two more towns in the west around Tal Afar
including Qameshliyah on
December 27.

The U.S. led Coalition destroyed the last bridge connecting
eastern and western Mosul. The Old Bridge was hit December 26.
There are five spans total across the Tigris River in the city. Two were hit in
October, two more in November, and then the Old Bridge twice in December. The
Americans took out the bridge to hinder the militants’ ability to traverse the
city and bring in supplies and remove their dead and wounded. IS and people of
Mosul have been using small boats to cross the Tigris since the bridges were
struck.

The Islamic State was also active. It executed
7 people in Mosul, and counter attacked in the Shaimaa
neighborhood of the city, along with three towns, one in the south,
one in the west, and one in the north.
It also seized large parts of the Intisar
area of east Mosul before being evicted in heavy fighting. The insurgents
continued to force people out of their homes to use them as firing positions.

Finally, the government said 290 families had returned
to Gogjali. There were in camps in Bashiqa previously. A few thousand people
have gone back since the start of the battle of Mosul, which started in the
middle of October. The number of returns has been overshadowed by the one
thousand plus displaced each day due to the fighting.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

December 25 the Golden Division attacked the Quds
district on the outskirts of east Mosul. On December
26 the Islamic State counter attacked there with three car bombs all of
which were destroyed. This was the first movement by the Iraqi forces (ISF) in east
Mosul in several days after they were paused to recover from two months of
heavy fighting.

IS was also said to be changing their tactics inside the
city. The group has been relentlessly shelling the eastern half of Mosul. Mortar
fire for example, killed two civilians on December 26. Their
firing positions however have been targeted by the U.S. led Coalition and Iraqi
forces. The militants were now said to be mounting mortars on vehicles so that
they could fire, quickly change positions and then fire again before they were
spotted and destroyed.

The last two days air strikes have been blamed for civilian
casualties inside Mosul. On December
26 seven civilians were wounded in one such incident. It can only be
speculated whether this was done by the U.S. led Coalition or the Iraqis.

All of the rest of the news was on plans for the new Mosul
campaign. Reuters
said that U.S. troops would be inside Mosul itself to provide front line
targeting for air strikes and advice to the Iraqi forces. It along with Iraqi
News also noted that more troops and police were moving into eastern Mosul
to reinforce the units already there, while Al Alam reported that the ISF were
fortifying their positions in northern and eastern Mosul.

Monday, December 26, 2016

There was heavy fighting across east Mosul for the last two
days. On December
24 there were clashes in eight neighborhoods. December 25 there were attacks in fiveareas
of the city that included at least four car bombs. The Islamic State also
carried out operations against the Hashd west of Tal
Afar and in the south in Albu Saif with
another two vehicle bombs being destroyed. The Golden Division also went on the
offensive for the first time in almost a week attacking the Quds
neighborhood that had been freed twice before. Other units were clearing freed areas
of IEDs. The U.S. also shelled
Mosul for the first time. Finally, an air strike was blamed
for killing 20 civilians and wounding 55 in the western half of the city.

There was continued talk of the new phase of the Mosul
campaign in Iraqi papers. General Fazi Barwari of the Golden Division made the
bold prediction that
all of east Mosul would be freed by the end of the year. Only about 40% of that
section of the city is currently occupied so claiming they would go through the
remaining 60% in six days is a little unbelievable. A member of the Hasdh
al-Watani, run by former Ninewa governor Atheel Nujafi and backed by Turkey, told
the press that the new campaign was supposed to start on December 24, but bad
weather pushed it back.

Ninewa officials criticized a recent push on the northern
front. On December 23 the 16th
Division took the police academy, the vehicle registration building and a
cement factory. Former governor Nujafi and members of his Hashd al-Watani claimed
the army shelled a neighborhood that was already freed during the operation causing
civilian casualties.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

There was some movement on the eastern and western fronts.
The Iraqi forces (ISF) freed two towns in the east, while the Hashd liberated a
village in the west.
The Ghazlani base in southern Mosul continued to be shelled as well. Some Iraqi
papers claimed this showed that the Mosul campaign was back in action, but as
of now this appeared to be more like minor clearing operations. Otherwise, the
Golden Division was removing IEDs from the Zuhur neighborhood
in east Mosul, and the Hashd was still working on securing the roads
around Tal Afar. Members of Kataib Hezbollah and the Imam Ali Brigades said that bad
weather was slowing their operations. A bigger factor was that they are in a
holding position around Tal Afar because the army and police have not organized
any forces to take the town itself.

The Iraqi forces continued to plan for the next phase of the
operation. They are being reinforced in the east. That included U.S. forces
moving up towards the front. American Special Forces have been advising the ISF
and calling in air strikes. U.S. apache helicopters and artillery have been
supporting the advance as well, along with other Coalition air forces. In one
day for instance, a reporter from Foreign
Policy noted there were 43 planes from 9 countries over Mosul carrying out
various missions from air strikes to jamming communications to re-fueling.

The Islamic State continued to force people from their homes
in east Mosul. Al Alam reported
that around 250 families were told to leave the Jazir area. IS has been trying
to get people to follow their retreat to be used as human shields, while
converting the abandoned buildings into firing positions.

On a positive note, a Christmas mass was held in
the town of Bartella for the first time in two years. The town was taken by the
Islamic State in 2014 and freed in October 2016. Unfortunately the town remains
mostly abandoned and destroyed. Almost all the people that attended the service
travelled there from Kurdistan where they have been staying since the
insurgents swept through the area.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

There was movement on the northern front for the first time
since the start of the month. The Iraqi forces (ISF) cleared the Police
Academy and vehicle registration directorate building north of Mosul. The ISF
had not done anything in that sector since December 5 when three villages were
freed. Northern forces were supposed to organize to take the town of Tal Afar
in the west and attack the northern neighborhoods of Mosul in November, but
have been stalled. Some units have been shifted to east Mosul instead in recent
weeks.

The Iraqi air force dropped more
flyers over Mosul. This was a mix of official statements by the government and
letters written by citizens. The official ones told people to be patient and
that victory was close. The others were personal letters of support for the
residents of the city. The ISF has leafleted over Mosul several times before.

Iraqi commanders continue to give contradictory statements
about the state of the campaign. General Abdul al-Assadi from the Golden
Division told
the media that the ISF was planning for a new push to free the rest of eastern
Mosul. The commander of Iraqi ground forces on the other hand, General Riyadh
Tawfiq claimed
there was no pause, but then said in a few days there would be new operations.
Due to stiff Islamic State resistance, exhaustion, casualties, lack of
supporting troops, police, and Hashd to hold areas freed, and apparent reluctance
by some officers to move forward, all fronts have largely halted although
fighting continues.

The New
York Times featured an article about the future for Christians in Ninewa.
Several Christian towns such as Qaraqosh and Bartella have been freed during
the campaign, but the piece questioned how many people would return to them.
Christian militias who secured some of those areas said they were still afraid
of Islamic State attacks, and most villages were destroyed. Since 2003 the
Christian population of Iraq has been devastated due to violence. IS’s take
over of most of Ninewa in 2014 was just the latest time they were targeted and
forced to flee their homes. Many have resettled in other parts of the country
or left Iraq overall and those trends only look to be continuing.

Finally the Irbil health directorate provided new information on
casualties in Iraq. Many of the wounded from the fighting in east Mosul are
sent to that city’s health facilities. With the new data a total of 4,153
people have been killed in Ninewa since the start of the Mosul campaign on
October 17, and 7,908 wounded. Roughly 65% of the dead were the result of
Islamic State executions, 2,717. When the operation started, the group was
forcing people from southern villages to retreat with them towards Mosul to be
used as human shields. Later the group separated the men, especially former
members of the security forces and carried out mass shootings. Another 247
people have lost their lives and 156 wounded in Coalition air strikes. The real
figures are higher due to government censorship and lack of access to the
frontlines and areas held by the Islamic State.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Almost all the combat news on December 22 from the Mosul
campaign originated with the Islamic State. Three suicide car bombs hit a
market in Gogjali,
an east Mosul suburb, which left 30 dead and 60 wounded. Mortar
fire also killed 11 in east Mosul, including four aid workers. The Golden
Division was involved in heavy clashes in the Tamim
neighborhood, which has been cleared twice before. The Federal Police continued
its shelling of the Ghazlani camp in south Mosul. Finally, the insurgents attempted
to break the encirclement of Tal Afar to the west, but the Hashd turned it
back. The Mosul operation is currently in a pause. The eastern forces are being
reinforced
and re-supplied
before they re-start their push into the city. The northern and southern fronts
have been stalled for a month a half because they didn’t have police or local
Hashd units to hold most of the ground they took. Some of the units that did
show up were not up to the task requiring the army to stay in place and clear
and hold the areas they had taken. Some units also reportedly did not want to
enter Mosul afraid of the heavy casualties they might take. In the west, the
Hashd were taking towns around Tal Afar but the army and police haven’t
organized any forces to take the town itself. That left almost all the heavy
fighting in the east and the Golden Division supported by some army brigades. Now
that front is at a standstill as well with fighting over areas already entered.
More army and police units are now being shifted to their sector to back them
up, and a southern thrust at Mosul is supposed to be in the making as well.

The slow down in operations is leading some Hashd to call
for their participation in the urban fighting. A Hashd spokesman
and the secretary
general of the Hezbollah al-Nujaba were both quoted as saying that the
Hashd should enter Mosul. The Iraqi government wanted the Iraqi forces to free
the city because it was not only better suited for urban warfare, but it could
also help win over the population to Baghdad. As a result an agreement was made
to keep the Hashd out. With the fighting dragging on and heavy casualties there
will be increasingly pressure from some Hashd to join in despite the deal.

Inside Mosul the Islamists were said to be destroying
and looting parts of the Mosul University as well as continuing with the
practice of forcing people out of their homes to turn their areas into combat
zones. The school used to be one of Iraq’s best higher learning institutions,
but now IS is blowing parts of it up as it has done in other sections of the
city. Meanwhile in Rabia neighborhood the militants were forcing people to
leave for the western side of the city. Their homes will likely be converted
into battle positions.

More stories came out on the cost of the Mosul operation.
The West Irbil Emergency Hospital told the Associated
Press that on days of heavy fighting they could see up to 100 patients. Rudaw quoted the
head of the Irbil Health Department that 7,595 people had been treated in the
city’s hospitals since the start of the Mosul campaign in the middle of
October. That was 3,000 more than had previously been mentioned in the media. Overall
that means that roughly 12,000 people have been killed and wounded in Ninewa so
far.

Finally, the number of displaced is about to pass the
110,000 mark by next week. The International Organization for Migration’s
latest fact
sheet showed that the number of people registered with the government or
aid groups climbed from 99,394 on December 16 to 108,625 by December 22. During
that time span around 1,000 people were fleeing their homes and seeking out
help per day. That does not include the hundreds of people sheltering within
Mosul itself. When military operations ramp back up that figure will only
increase.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

The Iraqi authorities have released contradictory statements
about the current pace of the Mosul campaign. At the start of December the
Iraqi forces (ISF) said they were halting their operations, but that was later
denied. The reality on the ground shows that things have almost ground to a
halt. U.S. Air Force General Matthew Isler told Reuters that the ISF
were in an operational pause to refit and resupply before they renewed their
push into Mosul. While there has been fighting across eastern Mosul each day
with two car bombs destroyed
and mortars killing 10 civilians
and wounding 34 others on December 21, there has been little news of any real
advances for the last few days.

What has been happening is preparation for a new push, while
trying to secure the liberated areas. A military source said that the Golden Division
was looking for weak points in the Islamic State’s defenses in Mosul to be
exploited when operations start up again, while the Ghazlani
camp in the south has been shelled for three days now. Finally, the Golden
Division was turning
over areas of east Mosul to newly arrived police that have been shifted from
the south into the city. That will free up units to rejoin the fight.

Rudaw
interviewed General Fazil Barwari of the Golden Division about the progress in
Mosul. Barwari noted that several parts of the operation have not gone as
planned. Local leaders in the city told the government that there would be a
popular uprising against the Islamic State once the Iraqi forces arrived, but
that didn’t happen. The ISF also expected civilians to flee conflict areas, but
they didn’t making the fighting all that more difficult. Finally, the original
plan was to take the city in two months. Barwari told Rudaw that there were
still routes from Mosul to Syria, and that IS has received reinforcements from
Syria. That contradicted statements by the Hashd who have repeatedly said they
have cut IS’s supply lines to Syria. It’s obvious that the Mosul battle has
been more difficult than many expected. Optimistic statements about the city
being freed by the end of the year and IS defenses collapsing are slowly giving
way to more realistic predictions that there are still weeks more of fighting
ahead.

Finally, Human
Rights Watch interviewed more than 50 people from east Mosul who
experienced a variety of attacks by the Islamic State as they attempted to flee
the fighting. As the government forces advanced IS men went from house to house
asking civilians if they would flee with them. Those that did not were labeled
traitors and unbelievers and told that they would suffer as a result. IS has
been targeting areas along the front and liberated ones as well with mortars
and sniper fire. This has been documented by the Iraqi and international press
as well. Almost every day the insurgents are firing mortars and causing
civilian casualties.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

There was fighting in east Mosul but no news of any
advances. The Islamic State fired
mortars into three neighborhoods, and launched two suicide bombers who were
killed. Around 250 homes in the Bakr neighborhood have been abandoned due to
the constant shelling. The Iraqi forces (ISF) were also firing artillery at
south Mosul. For the second day Ghazlani was hit.
The southern front has been stalled for almost a month and a half now, and this
artillery fire was one of the first signs of life. Al
Sumaria also reported that families in the western half of the city were
afraid that IS groups were abducting young boys to force them into service. The
insurgents are suffering heavy losses in the fighting, so they may be enforcing
a kind of draft on the population to bring in more fighters.

The Associated
Press interviewed members of the Golden Division about how the battle for
Mosul was going. Soldiers said in previous battles the Islamic State fortified
specific areas. That was not so in Mosul. There IS has set up small units to
cover areas who use tunnels and routes through houses to attack the Iraqi
forces who move through neighborhoods in columns of vehicles, and then scurry
off to another position. These fire and maneuver tactics have been able to hold
up the ISF. The fighting has also been costly. A medic interviewed said that on
average he was seeing 18 ISF casualties per day just in his sector. It is these
losses that are worrying. The Golden Division is doing almost all of the
fighting in east Mosul and if it continues to suffer heavy losses it could
debilitate the force. Part of the 9th Division is the only other
unit in the city in combat. South Mosul is supposed to be attacked soon, but it
appears to be still a work in progress.

The insurgents also launched attacks in the south and west,
and more of their dirty work was discovered. 2 car bombs were destroyed in the
Aub Saif area in the south, and another town was attacked. The Tal
Afar airport in the west was assaulted for a second day in a row. In the Hamam
al-Alil area to the south of the Mosul another mass grave was found with around ten
bodies in it. Before the area fell to the Iraqi forces, the militants took
hundreds of people to the area, and executed a large number of men. Many more
victims are likely to be discovered.

The Qayara oil fields south of Mosul were set ablaze by the
retreating insurgents. The North Oil Company has been able to put out 41
wells so far, but there were still others burning. This is causing huge clouds
of toxic fumes to spread over the area for two months now causing unknown
environmental and human damage.

The number of displaced has passed the 100,000 mark. The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) had 106,692 people registered so far. Each
week around 10,000 people are fleeing their homes, and almost all of these are
from the Mosul district. Still more are not signed up with the government or
aid agencies and are moving within Mosul itself. This situation is only getting
worse with only a very few returning so far.

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com